Toothbrush using up-and-down movement pattern

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern, in which two brushes are attached in series to each of inner surfaces of parallel first and second heads having an obtusely bent shape to perform up-and-down brushing. The toothbrush enables simultaneous brushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a tooth and a cheek pouch and removal of a tongue coating. The toothbrush includes the first and second heads, brushes longitudinally attached to the first and second heads, holes perforated in opposite end positions of the first and second heads, a C-shaped loop pivotally rotatably fitted into the holes of the first and second heads, an elongated U-shaped guide fixed to both ends of the first head, a transfer member connected to the elongated U-shaped guide so as to reciprocate in a longitudinal direction of the first head, and a gripper extending downward from the transfer member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toothbrush using an up-and-downmovement pattern, and particularly to a toothbrush whose two heads areeach arranged in series on each facing inner side of the first andsecond heads which are formed side by side at obtuse angles so as toperform an up-and-down brushing operation, thereby enabling simultaneousbrushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a tooth and aregion inside the cheek (hereinafter, referred to as a “cheek pouch”)and also, enabling removal of a tongue coating and brushing of the roofof the mouth.

2. Description of the Related Art

As one example of technologies related to toothbrushes, Korean UtilityModel Laid-Open Publication No. 20-1999-0020605 (published on Jun. 15,1999, hereinafter, referred to as “prior art 1”) discloses an inventionentitled “Toothbrush having improved tooth brushing functions”.

In prior art 1, the toothbrush includes a head, on the front surface ofwhich a plurality of upright bristles is fixed, and a gripper integrallyconnected to a side surface of the head so as to be bent downward fromthe head, the head and the gripper together having an obtusely bent“L”-shape, and the gripper being provided at an appropriate position onan outer circumferential surface thereof with a protrusion to supportthe thumb. The disclosed toothbrush functions to guide the user toperform a correct up-and-down tooth brushing motion and also, remarkablyreduce arm fatigue by minimizing a motional radius of the arm duringup-and-down brushing. In particular, the toothbrush may improve brushingefficiency (e.g., removal of plaque).

The above-described prior art 1 has a feature in which the gripper isintegrated to the side surface of the head to have an “L”-shape alongwith the head, in order to facilitate an up-and-down tooth brushingmotion.

With this configuration, according to a direction in which the headextends angularly from the gripper, for example, as the head extends ina leftward angular direction from the gripper and the bristles areprovided at the front surface of the head, outer portions of left upperand lower teeth may be brushed in a state in which the gripper islocated below the head.

However, brushing right upper teeth is impossible in the state in whichthe gripper is located below the head, and therefore, the user mustinvert the toothbrush such that the head is located below the gripper.

In this case, even if the user grips the gripper to orient the headupward or downward, the head cannot reach inner portions of left upperteeth and inner portions of right lower teeth, making it impossible tobrush the inner portions of the left upper teeth and the inner portionsof the right lower teeth. Also, even if the user attempts to performbrushing while maximally pushing the mouth corner toward molars usingthe gripper, the bristles have difficulty reaching the molar located ata distal end.

As another example, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0225409(registered on Mar. 16, 2001, hereinafter referred to as “prior art 2”)discloses an invention entitled “Toothbrush”.

In prior art 2, the toothbrush is configured such that a head member, onwhich bristles are implanted, is integrally formed at a tip end of atoothbrush head and the toothbrush head includes a grip portion and aneck portion formed in a longitudinal direction thereof, to allow theuser to clean his/her teeth while gripping the gripper. In the disclosedtoothbrush, as the head member extends in a direction crossing thelongitudinal direction of the toothbrush head, it is possible tomaximize a possible contact area between the teeth and the bristles,thereby increasing food particle and plaque removal effects.

The toothbrush can also easily access molars located deep within themouth so as to ensure that the molars can be easily cleaned. Also, uponcleaning the tongue or front teeth, or inner portions of the frontteeth, the toothbrush ensures a posture which causes no strain becausethe fingers, wrist and arm gripping the toothbrush head are aligned in astraight line. Thus, the toothbrush allows even the elderly and infirmto easily clean their teeth.

Similar to that of prior art 1, the toothbrush of the prior art 2 has anapproximately T-shaped configuration such that the head member isintegrally formed with the neck portion of the toothbrush head forup-and-down brushing.

As compared to prior art 1, prior art 2 can provide smoother brushingwith respect to inner portions of left upper teeth and inner portions ofright lower teeth.

Brushing operations of the toothbrush of prior art 2 in detail mayinclude:

a first brushing operation for outer portions of upper and lower teethengaged with each other;

a second brushing operation for inner portions of upper teeth, which isperformed with a gripping posture to orient bristles opposite to that inthe first brushing operation;

a third brushing operation for engaging portions of upper molars (i.e.portions to be engaged with lower teeth, hereinafter, referred to as“cusp portions”), which is performed with a gripping posture to orientbristles upward;

a fourth brushing operation for engaging portions of lower molars, whichis performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles downward;

a fifth brushing operation for inner portions of lower teeth, which isperformed with a gripping posture to orient bristles outward;

a sixth brushing operation for a tongue, which is performed with agripping posture to orient bristles downward;

a seventh brushing operation for the roof of the mouth, which isperformed with a gripping posture to orient bristles upward; and

eighth and ninth brushing operations for left and right cheek pouches,which are performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles outward.

The above described various brushing operations, however, may causeserious fatigue in the user's arm in the same manner as a knowntoothbrush in which a head is formed in a longitudinal direction of agripper and bristles are provided at a surface of the head. Inparticular, children have difficulty performing the above describedbrushing operations which may lead to poor brushing habits.

Although the prior art 1 and 2 achieve somewhat high teeth cleaningperformance, “L”-shaped and “T”-shaped toothbrushes have no ability toconform to a set of teeth when the bristles come into contact with theteeth. Further, since contact portions of the bristles are notconfigured to completely cover the respective teeth, i.e. to come intoclose contact with the teeth, these toothbrushes may disadvantageouslylimit the removal performance of inter-dental food particles or plaque.

Thus, a separate removal tool, such as an inter-dental brush or dentalfloss, or a vibration generator producing, for example, sound orultrasonic waves, is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the aboveproblems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide atoothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern, in which two brushesare attached in series to one of corresponding facing inner surfaces ofparallel first and second heads each having an obtusely bent shape so asto perform an up-and-down brushing operation, thereby enablingsimultaneous brushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion ofa tooth and a cheek pouch and also, enabling removal of a tongue coatingand brushing of the roof of the mouth.

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objectscan be accomplished by the provision of a toothbrush using anup-and-down movement pattern including first and second heads providedin parallel to maintain a gap therebetween, brushes attached to facinginner sides of the first and second heads such that two brushes arearranged in series in a longitudinal direction of each of the first andsecond heads, holes perforated in opposite end positions of the firstand second heads, a C-shaped loop, both ends of which are pivotallyrotatably fitted into the holes perforated in the corresponding endpositions of the first and second heads, an elongated U-shaped guide,both ends of which are suspended from and fixed to both ends of a lowerend surface of the first head, a transfer member connected to anexternal position of a central linear portion of the elongated U-shapedguide so as to be reciprocally movable in a longitudinal direction ofthe first head, and a gripper extending from a lower end of the transfermember.

The toothbrush may further include gum brushes outwardly inclined fromupper and lower root portions of the brushes and having the shorterlength than that of the brushes.

The toothbrush may further include a bar-shaped protrusion protrudingoutward from throughout an upper end of the second head and centrallydivided to enable removal of a tongue coating.

The first head may consist of two sectional bodies connected to eachother by an elastic intermediate member, the two sectional bodies beingrespectively pushed on the basis of the intermediate member to conformto a set of teeth upon receiving press force and then, being returned tooriginal positions thereof when the press force is released duringup-and-down brushing in a state in which the brushes come into contactwith the teeth.

The first and second heads may have an obtusely concave shape whenviewed from the front side thereof.

Upper and lower ends of the first head may be made of rubber and may beprovided with a plurality of valleys perpendicular to a longitudinaldirection thereof to enable massage and cleaning of outer portions ofthe teeth during brushing.

The C-shaped loop may be a high strength member, both ends of which arefitted to the corresponding holes via torsion springs.

The elongated U-shaped guide may have a flat and wide central linearportion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a toothbrush using anup-and-down movement pattern according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movementpattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views respectively illustrating first and secondheads illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the toothbrush using theup-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the toothbrush using the up-and-downmovement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 6A to 6C are front views illustrating different movements of thetoothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are views illustrating an elastic movement of the firstand second heads illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8A to 8B are views illustrating various examples of the toothbrushusing the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use; and

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a further example of the toothbrush usingthe up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a toothbrush using anup-and-down movement pattern according to the present invention. In FIG.1, the toothbrush is composed of a gripper 10, first and second heads 20and 24, a bar-shaped protrusion 26, a guide 28, brushes 30, and C-shapedloops 40. The gripper 10 includes a grip body 12, a grip portion 14, anda neck portion 16. The first head 20 consists of first and secondsectional bodies 20 a and 20 b.

Now, operation and effects of the toothbrush according to the presentinvention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movementpattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views respectively illustrating first and secondheads illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the toothbrush using theup-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the toothbrush using the up-and-downmovement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are front views illustrating different movements of thetoothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are views illustrating an elastic movement of the firstand second heads illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 8A to 8B are views illustrating various examples of the toothbrushusing the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a further example of the toothbrush usingthe up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 9, when using the toothbrush, the user may brushhis/her teeth by moving the toothbrush up and down while gripping thegrip portion 14 of the gripper 10 as illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C orFIGS. 8A and 8B, or may scrape a surface of the tongue using thebar-shaped protrusion 26 protruding outward from throughout an upper endof the second head 24 so as to remove a tongue coating. In this case,the upper end of the bar-shaped protrusion 26 acts to automatically wipeeven the cheek pouch and the roof of the mouth. The bar-shapedprotrusion 26, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, is centrally divided to definespace 27 as illustrated in FIG. 1, achieving further enhancement inelasticity. Reference numerals 21 and 25 of FIG. 1 and referencenumerals 28 a and 28 b of FIG. 3B designate hinges, which may beseparately provided, or may be integrally formed with correspondingelements.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, upper and lower root portions of thebrushes 30 are separately provided with outwardly inclined gum brushes30 a and 30 b having the shorter length. These gum brushes 30 a and 30 bact to brush the gums.

In this way, the transfer member 22 is inserted from outside into thecentral linear portion of the elongated U-shaped guide 28 and thus isable to perform reciprocal motion in the longitudinal direction of thefirst head 20. Also, gripper 10 extending to the lower part of thetransfer member 22 is able to reciprocate as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6Cduring brushing. The central linear portion of the elongated U-shapedguide 28 has a wide and flat shape to more accurately guide thereciprocal motion of the transfer member 22.

Coupling portion 16 a as illustrated in FIG. 5 is made of rubber and hashigh elasticity. That is, the coupling portion 16 is sufficientlyflexible so as to be easily bent and be immediately restored whenpressure is released.

The gripper 10 may be positioned as illustrated in FIG. 6A when the userbrushes central teeth, or may be positioned as illustrated in FIG. 6B or6C when the user brushes left or right molars. The gripper 10 isreciprocally movable leftward or rightward, and thus, allows the molarslocated deep within the mouth as well as end surfaces thereof to beeasily brushed.

The first head 20 consists of first and second sectional bodies 20 a and20 b connected to each other by an elastic intermediate member. Duringan up-and-down brushing operation in a state in which the brushes 30come into contact with teeth upon receiving press force, the sectionalbodies 20 a and 20 b are respectively pushed on the basis of theintermediate member to conform to a set of teeth and then, are returnedto original positions thereof, enabling effective brushing. Similarly,the central portion of the second head 24 is defined by an elasticintermediate member.

The sectional bodies 20 a and 20 b of the first head 20 are centrallyperforated with coupling holes 23 a respectively. The brushes 30 to becoupled to the respective sectional bodies 20 and 20 b are respectivelyprovided at outer surfaces thereof with coupling bosses 23 b tocorrespond to the coupling holes 23 a. Thereby, as the coupling bosses23 b are inserted into the corresponding coupling holes 23 a, thebrushes 30 can be coupled to the respective sectional bodies 20 a and 20b.

Similarly, the brushes 30 to be coupled to the second head 24 isprovided respectively at outer surfaces thereof with coupling bosses 23c and the second head 24 is perforated with coupling holes at positionscorresponding to the respective coupling bosses 23 c, whereby thebrushes 30 can be coupled to the second head 24.

With this configuration, the user may semi-permanently use thetoothbrush via replacement of the brushes 30. In the toothbrushaccording to the present invention, the aforementioned constituentelements are selected to have high durability in consideration of thesemi-permanent use of the toothbrush.

Upper and lower ends of the first head 20 are made of rubber and areprovided with a plurality of valleys, i.e. consecutive ridges 21 a, 21 band 21 c perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the first head 20,whereby massage and cleaning of outer portions of teeth are possibleduring brushing.

The C-shaped loop 40 is a pivotally rotatable high strength member andthus, serves to assist smooth and efficient brushing as the bristles 30naturally press the C-shaped loop 40. Both ends of the C-shaped loop 40are respectively coupled to corresponding holes of the first and secondheads 20 and 24 with torsion springs 42 interposed therebetween, suchthat the C-shaped loop 40 is located midway in a rotatable range in anunused state thereof.

By use of the toothbrush having the above described configuration, anyuser can easily brush all teeth evenly and in a single manner, i.e. byrepeating a simple brushing pattern to brush teeth up and down whilegripping the grip portion 14 below the jaw without arm fatigue.Therefore, when using the toothbrush of the present invention, it ispossible to prevent dental caries, or partial abrasion of teeth, such asdental cervical abrasion.

In conventional brushing involving 10 or more complex motions, an end ofa toothbrush head may cause injury to the gums if the teeth are brushedrapidly. However, the present invention has the effect of preventingthis problem and protecting the gums.

The C-shaped loop 40, which integrally connects the first and secondheads 20 and 24 to each other, is installed in a pivotally rotatablemanner, and thus, allows the brushes 30 to brush only teeth duringup-and-down movement thereof while restricting upward and downwardmovement above and below the teeth as illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B,thereby preventing gum injury due to the corresponding constituentelements of the toothbrush. Furthermore, the brushes 30 act to brush acusp portion of tooth 54 close to gum 50 and even an end surface 56 of amolar. In FIG. 8A, reference numeral 52 designates a coupling portionbetween the brush 30 and the corresponding head of the toothbrush.

The brushes 30 include bi-directional bristles to be bent in use, and arestoration force of the bristles acts to compress the teeth. Asvibration force applied by the center elastic intermediate memberbetween the first and second sectional bodies 20 a and 20 b is added tothe restoration force of the bristles, accurate and rapid removal offood particles trapped between teeth and cleaning of the teeth can berealized. Thus, when using the toothbrush of the present invention, itis unnecessary to use a separate tool, such as an inter-dental brush ordental floss, or a sound wave or ultrasonic generator to apply vibrationto the toothbrush.

Considering arrangement of the brushes 30, two of the brushes 30 areattached in series to one of corresponding facing inner surfaces of theparallel first and second heads 20 and 24 each having an obtusely bentshape. This arrangement provides an advantage in that inner and outerportions and a cusp portion of a hexahedral tooth and the cheek pouchmay be brushed simultaneously by up-and-down brushing using the brushes30.

A cusp portion of a tooth can be primarily brushed as the toothpenetrates the two brushes 30 provided at the facing inner surfaces ofthe first and second heads 20 and 24 and then, be secondarily brushed asextra bristles of the brushes 30 moved leftward or rightward naturallycome into close contact with each other. During this brushing, thebristles of the brushes 30 fluctuate in all directions, thereby actingto brush the entire portion of the tooth.

The bar-shaped protrusion 26, which is made of rubber and protrudesoutward from throughout the upper end of the second head 24, enables notonly easy and rapid removal of a tongue coating, but also cleaning ofthe roof of the mouth owing to a flat wide surface thereof.

In the meantime, due to the fact that the gripper 10, from which thetransfer member 22 extends, is reciprocally movable along the guide 28,extra bristles of the brushes 30 may easily brush even molars locateddeep within the mouth and end surfaces of the molars.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the presentinvention, a toothbrush is configured such that two brushes are attachedin series to one of corresponding facing inner surfaces of parallelfirst and second heads each having an obtusely bent shape so as toperform an up-and-down brushing operation, thereby enabling simultaneousbrushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a tooth andthe cheek pouch.

Further, with a bar-shaped protrusion protruding outward from throughoutan upper end of the second head, the toothbrush of the present inventionhas the effect of enabling easy removal of a tongue coating and cleaningof the roof of the mouth.

Furthermore, as the gripper is reciprocally movable along a guide of thefirst head owing to a transfer member connected between the gripper andthe guide, the toothbrush of the present invention has the effect ofbrushing molars located deep within the mouth and end surfaces of themolars that are difficult to access with a conventional toothbrush andthus, frequently suffer from considerable plaque buildup.

In addition, as upper and lower ends of the first head are made ofrubber and are provided with a plurality of valleys perpendicular to alongitudinal direction thereof, the toothbrush of the present inventionhas the effect of enabling massage and cleaning of outer portions ofteeth.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

1. A toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern comprising: firstand second heads provided in parallel to maintain a gap therebetween,wherein the first and the second head are formed in substantially curvedsurface; a first brush provided with two brushes being arranged atintervals in a longitudinal direction of the first head, inside thefirst head facing the second head; a second brush provided with twobrushes being arranged at intervals in a longitudinal direction of thesecond head, inside the second head facing the first head; holesrespectively perforated at both end positions of a longitudinaldirection of the first and second heads; two C-shaped loops whose bothends are pivotally rotatably fitted into the holes respectivelyperforated in both end positions of the first and second heads; anelongated U-shaped guide whose both ends are suspended from and fixed toboth ends of outside lower surface of a longitudinal direction of thefirst head, wherein a bottom between both ends of the elongated U-shapedguide is elongated and formed in the longitudinal direction of the firsthead; a transfer member connected to an external position of the bottomof the elongated U-shaped guide so as to be reciprocally movable along alongitudinal direction of the first head; and a gripper being connectedto a lower end of the transfer member, and extended from the lower endof the transfer member along an orthogonal direction against thelongitudinal direction of the first head.
 2. The toothbrush according toclaim 1, further comprising gum brushes outwardly inclined from upperand lower root portions of the brushes and having the shorter lengththan that of the brushes.
 3. The toothbrush according to claim 1,further comprising a bar-shaped protrusion protruding outward fromthroughout an upper end of the second head and centrally divided toenable removal of a tongue coating.
 4. The toothbrush according to claim1, wherein the first head consists of two sectional bodies connected toeach other by an elastic intermediate member, the two sectional bodiesbeing respectively pushed on the basis of the intermediate member toconform to a set of teeth upon receiving press force and then, beingreturned to original positions thereof when the press force is releasedduring up-and-down brushing in a state in which the brushes come intocontact with the teeth.
 5. The toothbrush according to claim 1, whereinthe first and second heads have an obtusely concave shape when viewedfrom the front side thereof.
 6. The toothbrush according to claim 1,wherein upper and lower ends of the first head are made of rubber andare provided with a plurality of valleys perpendicular to a longitudinaldirection thereof to enable massage and cleaning of outer portions ofthe teeth during brushing.
 7. The toothbrush according to claim 1,wherein the C-shaped loop is a high strength member, both ends of whichare fitted to the corresponding holes via torsion springs.
 8. Thetoothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the elongated U-shaped guidehas a flat and wide central linear portion.
 9. A toothbrush for use inan up-and-down brushing motion, the toothbrush comprising: a head memberextending along a longitudinal direction, the head member comprising afirst head and a second head, maintained in a parallel, spaced apartrelation by two C-shaped loops; each C-shaped loop having two ends, withone end being pivotally connected to a longitudinal end of the firsthead and the other end being pivotally connected to a longitudinal endof the second head; the first head including two brushes, spaced apartalong the longitudinal direction and the second head including twobrushes, spaced apart along the longitudinal direction, wherein thebrushes of the first head face the brushes of the second head; anelongated U-shaped guide extending along the longitudinal direction froma first end to a second end, the first end being fixed to the first headat a position adjacent a first longitudinal end of the first head andthe send end being fixed to the first head at a position adjacent asecond longitudinal end of the first head; a transfer member coupled tothe elongated U-shaped guide between the first end and the second endand being moveable in the longitudinal direction along the elongatedU-shaped guide between the first end and the second end; and a gripperextending from the transfer member in a direction transverse to thelongitudinal direction of the head member.